The NFC West might no longer hold the claim of the league's best division. The AFC North lacks surefire title contenders, but it has come out of the gates looking like the deepest division in football through three weeks.

The Bengals, Steelers, Browns and Ravens have played only four games out of the division -- but they've won all of them. Pittsburgh stomped Carolina on the road, while Cincinnati has easily dispatched their two non-divisionfoes. The division's theoretical worst team, Cleveland, took out New Orleans. It's wildly early, but the AFC North has won their non-division games by an average of 15 points.

It will be difficult for the division to sneak in three playoff teams with San Diego and Denver out west, but the AFC North has one big advantage. They match up with the AFC South in conference games and could roll up wins against a soft division.

Here are more winners and losers from Week 3:

Going up

DeMarco Murray's chances of winning a rushing title: Murray is the fifth running back ever to start the season with three straight games over 100 rushing yards with a touchdown. The other four: Jim Brown, O.J. Simpson, Emmitt Smith and Curtis Martin. It's safe to say Murray is the first one to fumble in all three games as well, but he is running extremely well. This is the offense that Jason Garrett has always wanted; now Tony Romo just needs to cooperate.

Bruce Arians' magic touch: Arians does all the things that you yell at your coach to do. He tries to score points at the end of the half even when he's backed up in his own end and has Drew Stanton at quarterback. He goes for fourth-and-1 before midfield ... even when he has Drew Stanton at quarterback. Arians makes Stanton and John Brown look like Andrew Luck and T.Y. Hilton. No coach has done a better job since the start of 2012.

Arizona's offensive line: Speaking of which: Remember when the Cardinals' offensive line was an annual embarrasment? The signing of Jared Veldheer and Arians' system have turned that around.

Teryl Austin: He's passed Tavon in the NFL's Austin rankings. (Davis is also making strides.) The first-time Detroit Lions defensive coordinator has done a great job early this season despite injuries and a weak secondary.

San Diego's reliability: The Chargers' steady 22-10 win in Buffalo was somehow more impressive than besting the defending champions. This was exactly the type of game the Chargers would lose in the past. They are developing into a legitimate AFC contender.

Preseason AFC South narratives: The division might wind up looking exactly as you expected. Speaking of which ...

Moving down

Gus Bradley's progress: It's a rebuilding project in Jacksonville, but this was a competitive team down the stretch last year. They've lost three games by a total of 75 points this season. The defense is especially worrisome -- it's as ugly as any time during the brief Mike Mularkey era.

The sanctity of preseason depth charts: Everything looks great in July when we put together season previews. Then reality hits before October. Carolina and San Diego are running out of running backs; Philadelphia's offensive line is almost all gone; Chicago's thin defense already looks thinner; Lovie Smith's promising Tampa defense has lost half its starters; and Oakland needs healthy linebackers. The list could go on and on.

It doesn't take long each season before remembering that offseason depth charts are an ideal that rarely get realized.